Many consumer electronics operate in response to signals transmitted by remote controls. For example, televisions, stereos, radios, lights, cameras, and countless other devices are supplied with dedicated or universal remote controls that transmit coded signals. The coded signals are received, interpreted and used to change settings in such devices from a distance. Typically, the coded signals are transmitted in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, but sometimes they are transmitted at radiofrequency wavelengths. The coded signals can change the power on/off state, volume, channel, and myriad other settings.
Remote controls are beneficial because they allow persons to enjoy electronics without having to go to the device each time a change in setting is desired. These same persons might enjoy or appreciate watching television or listening to music, for example, while enjoying a favorite scent that permeates their environment from a volatized essential oil or the like.
However, quality scents produced by burning essential oils require effort beyond operating a remote control. Essential oils are typically burned under a flame and that requires votive candles, a burner, oil, a match and effort to initiate and supervise the volatization process.
On the other hand, some scents are available in forms that can perfuse the air continuously or intermittently with the assistance of heat/electricity in an automated way. On example include the gel- and oil-based products sold commercially as Glade Plugins®, available from S.C. Johnson and Company. Such household products have associated drawbacks, chief among them is that the scent is constant, and therefore becomes less noticeable. Though devices have been made that cycle through different scents, volatizers on the market today generally lack the refinement that an essential oil can provide, and universally fail to provide active control over when the volatizer is to operate in a subtle way that integrates with everyday modern life.
The present invention provides a new product category in the form of systems and methods that add wireless responsiveness to an electronic volatizer, and that automatically provide a scent in response to a wireless signal without regard to the encoded command in the signal itself. Such a system and method is advantageous over continuous or intermittent scent dispensers by emitting the scent only when persons are in the room or in the vicinity of the scent emitting device and engaging in an activity that includes the use of a remote control.